Foreign nationals convicted of sex offences will be barred from claiming asylum, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has announced.
The move follows a change in the law aimed at tightening border security.
At present, the Refugee Convention entitles countries to refuse asylum to terrorists, war criminals and individuals convicted of a ‘particularly serious crime’ who present a danger to the community – defined in the UK as an offence carrying a sentence of 12 months or more.
For the first time, any conviction of a crime that qualifies a foreign national for the sex offenders register will lead to them being denied refugee status, toughening our approach to border security
The Government says it plans to cut the asylum backlog and save taxpayer money, by giving the tribunals a new target to reduce the time they take to consider appeals from asylum seekers in accommodation, as well as rolling out artificial intelligence (AI) across asylum processing to speed up decision making.
Under the new measures, the first-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber will have a new 24-week target to decide appeals brought by those receiving accommodation support, or who are foreign offenders. This will help stop lengthy legal battles, moving failed asylum seekers out of hotels faster and removing those with no right to be in the country.
The bill will also introduce tougher measures to weed out people who pose as immigration lawyers or advisers, by offering ‘advice’ to migrants on how to claim asylum in the UK and lodge fraudulent claims
Meanwhile speaking to the BBC, Cooper says this year’s “exceptionally calm weather” has been beneficial for smuggling gangs, as the number of crossings exceeds 10,000.
